Snap fastener tape



May 2, P. PERRY SNAP FASTENER TAPE Filed June 16, 1938 l NVENTOR. PAULA. PERRH ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 2, 1939 PATENT OFFICE UNITED STATES 3 Claims.

This invention relates to what is generally termed snap fastener tapewhich consists essentlally of a strip of fabric preferably made up of aplurality of folds or plies and having secured 5 thereto in spacedrelation a plurality of snap .fasteners which are preferably secured tothe strip in such manner that the fasteners are concealed by the foldsor plies of the material. It is of course to be understood that snapfastener tape of this general type consists of two cooperating strips oftape each having elements or fastening devices which are secured to thetape in such manner that the fastening elements are concealed as much aspossible while leaving the operative portions thereof readilyaccessible. As the name would indicate, the fastening devices aresecured to each other with a snap action and are I released by forciblyseparating the two fastening elements as one would open a glove.

Snap fastener tape of this general character is old and well known inthe art. However, the tape of this character heretofore used has been inthe form of a strip of tape which is straight along its opposite edges.Such a tape is usually sewed to a garment in such manner that the tapeis concealed from the exterior. However, when such tape is sewed alongthe exterior edge of the placket opening and then folded over so that itwill be concealed, the material tends to pull and pucker and to producefolds which are unsightly.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a snap fastener tapewhich is stitched along one edge and unstitched along the opposite edgethereof so that when the tape is applied along the placket opening of adress and stitched and then turned inwardly, the tendency to produce apucker or excess fullness is greatly reduced and substantiallyeliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide 40 a form fitting dresshaving a placket opening at the waistline, the opposite edges of whichtend to diverge when the placket is opened, togetherwith a curved stripof snap fastener tape secured along one side of the opening and having aplurality of snap fasteners secured thereto in spaced relation, theopposite edge of the placket opening having a second strip of fastenertape secured thereto the oppositeedges of which are straight orsubstantially straight and being provided with the folds or plies, saidstrip being stitched along one edge thereof and unstitched along theopposite edge wherebythe strip of tape may be readily secured to theexterior edge of a curved placket opening and then turned under andstitched down without causing a pucker adjacent the opening.

Further and more limited objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds and by reference to the accompanying drawing in.which Fig. 1 is a view showing a form fitting dress having a divergingplacket opening at the waistline and having my improved snap fastenertape applied thereto; Figs. 2 and 3 are views in elevation showing thestrip of tape before and after being stitched along one edge; Fig. 4 isa fragmentary detail view showing a placket opening having my improvedtape secured thereto, the placket being open; Fig. 5 is a view similarto Fig. 4 showing the curved strip of tape partially applied to one sideof the placket opening; Fig. 6 is an exaggerated sectional view on theline 6-6 of Fig. 5; and Fig. '7is a similar view taken on the line 1-1of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference character I designates adress having a curved or diverging placket opening 2 at the waistlinethereof. The reference character 3 designates a strip of snap fastenertape which may be made up of one or more folds or plies and which hassecured thereto in spaced relation in any suitable manner a plurality ofsnap fasteners 4. The fastener elements 4 may be stitched in place ormay be secured in place in any suitable manner.

In Fig. 3 the strip of tape 3 is disclosed as being stitched along oneedge thereof, the line of stitching being indicated by the referencecharacter 5. The row of stitching 5 is a tight stitch which tends togather the material slightly along the edge thereof so as to shorten oneedge thereof and to impart to the strip the shape illustrated in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4 the placket opening is disclosed as it will appear after thetwo strips-of tape 3 and 6' have been stitched thereto. The strip oftape 6 is a standard strip of tape and has secured thereto a pluralityof complementary fastening elements-l, the fastening elements beingsubstantially concealed within the plies or folds of material. I

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7, I have illustrated the manner of seeming the twostrips of tape in place. The strip of tape 3, after having been stitchedalong one edge thereof, is of the shape shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Thereference character 8 indi- Ill) - the reference character II, and isthen moved .over so as to extend along the edge of the opening andstitched the remaining distance. The

- strip of tape 3 is then folded over to the position shown at the leftin Fig. 7 and stitched to the. dress along its opposite edge by a linedf stitching as indicated by the reference character ll. Due to the factthat the strip of tape 3 is curved along its opposite edges, thetendency to pucker or pull the material when it is folded over from theposition shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 7 is reduced to aminimum and substantially eliminated.

The strip of tape 6 which is a standard strip of straight tape hassecured thereto complementary fastener elements I. This strip of tape isstitched to the dress along the interior edge of the placket opening bya line of stitching indi cated by the reference character l2. The stripis then folded over from the position shown at the right in Fig. 6 tothe position shown at the right in Fig. 7 and is then stitched downbygr-line of stitching indicated by the reference character l3. It willbe seen that the strip of tape 3 is on the inside of the dress andconcealed thereby and that the strip of tape 8 is on the outside of thedress and exposed, as will appear most clearly from Fig. 4.

The edge of the strip of tape 3 towardv the placket opening is concaveand curves away from the opening at the central portion thereof. Whenthe fastener elements 4 are snapped into engagement with the fastenerelements I, the tendency is to straighten out the curved strip 3 withoutproducing an unsightly or objectionable stretching or pulling in thematerial of which the dress is formed, at the placket opening. This isdue to the shape of the strip of tape 3 and the manner in which it issecured to the edge of the placket opening.

It will now be clear that I have provided a snap fastener tape whichwill eliminate the objections hereinbefore referred to and which willaccomplish the objects of the invention as hereinbefore stated. It is tobe understood that the material of which the tape is formed and themanner of securing the fastener elements in place or the numberoffoldsor plies of material are immaterial and may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. It is therefore to beunderstood thatthe invention is limited only in accordance with thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: 4

1. The method of attaching to a curved placket opening a curved strip ofsnap fastener tape having a row of snap fastener elements securedthereto in spaced relation, which consists in first stitching theconcave edge of the curved strip of tape along one edge of said opening,then folding over said curved strip of tape and the attached edge of theplacket opening which is stitched thereto and then stitching theopposite edge of the strip of tape to the underlying material whereby toprevent excess fullness in the material adjacent the edge of the placketopening.

2. A garment comprising a blouse portion and a skirt portion and havinga curved placket opening at the waistline the opposite edges of whichtend to diverge when the placket is open, a curved strip of snapfastener tape secured along one edge of said placket opening and havinga plurality of snap fasteners secured thereto in spaced relation, theconcave edge of said strip of tape being stitched along one edge of theplacket opening, said strip of tape and the adjacent edge of thematerial being folded over and stitched to the underlying material alongthe opposite edge of said strip of tape and a second strip of snapfastener tape secured along the opposite edge of said placket openingand having a plurality of complementary snap fasteners thereon.

3. A garment comprising a blouse portion and ,a skirt portion and havinga curved placket opening at the waistline the opposite edges of whichtend to diverge when the placket is open; a curved strip of snapfastener tape secured along one edge of said placket opening and havinga plurality of snap fasteners secured thereto in spaced relation, theconcave edge of said strip of tape being stitched along one edge of theplacket opening, said strip of tape and the adjacent edge of thematerial being folded over and stitched to the underlying material alongthe opposite edge thereof, said strip of snap fastenertape comprising athin narrow strip of fabric made up of a plurality of folds or piles andhaving the snap fastener elements disposed centrally thereof in spacedrelation and substantially concealed by said folds or plies, said stripof tape before it is attached to the placket opening being stitchedalong one edge thereof with atightstitch andbeing unstitehed along theopposite edge thereof, and a second strip of snap fastener tape securedalong the oppositeedge of said placket opening and having a plurality ofcomplementary fasteners thereon.

' PAUL A. PERRY.

